1

CHOOSING THE RIGHT BOOK FOR YOUR CLASS

Matthew Peacock
This article presents a new checklist designed for use when choosing coursebooks.
We propose that current coursebook selection methods are inadequate and that there is
a pressing need for a more objective evaluation instrument than found in use at
present. The article argues that although coursebook assessment criteria must
correspond to local needs, there is a place for an evaluation checklist flexible enough
to be used worldwide. This has been attempted in the checklist introduced here by
using a scoring table which allows and or all of the 60 items on the checklist to be
weighted by users as necessary to suit their local teaching situation.
INTRODUCTION: THE NEED FOR A CHECKLIST
A bewildering number of new coursebooks flood the worldwide EFL market
year by year, making it ever more difficult to choose the right book for class. We
suggest that current coursebook selection methods in adult EFL are unsatisfactory and
that three is a need for a new checklist as an alternative way of choosing coursebooks.
This article is based on four prepositions:1. a large number of adult EFL classes around the world today are using
coursebooks which were not chosen by the careful application of objective
evaluation criteria.
2. Many EFL teachers will agree that this proposition is correct. We suggest that
the procedure for choosing coursebooks in many countries is too often
haphazard and that teaching materials are rarely chosen by the application of
published evaluation checklists. A common method is for Directors of Study
to obtain a few new coursebooks which are briefly looked over or flicked
through by the more experienced teachers in the school, after which books are
chosen on the basis of the subjective judgements or first impressions of those
teachers. This situation is correctly described by Sheldon (1988:240),
checklists have had little real influence on textbook evaluation. We
suggest that this occurs because teachers are often either unaware of the
existence of checklists, cannot obtain them, do not want to make the effort of
using them or are put off by their length and apparently complicated nature.
These factors and time pressure to choose a coursebook quickly make this
process inevitable. Concerned EFL teachers might ask their supervisor how
the coursebook they are using in class was chosen: teachers and coursebook
selectors might also look into their classrooms and consider whether the book
in use is a weak or strong link in the overall program, and whether that book is
the best possible one for the class.
3. the ongoing failure to create and use objective criteria when selecting
coursebooks is an abdication of the responsibility of schools and teachers to
provide learners with materials that are as relevant as possible to their needs,
and to ensure that learners investment of time and money in study is fully
justified.
4. one effective way of ensuring that the needs and wants of learners are given
careful consideration when choosing coursebooks is to apply a written
checklist of appropriate selection criteria to potential coursebooks.

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5. We do not wish to suggest checklists are the only way or necessarily the best
way to select coursebooks for adult TEFL. Our aim is to motivate coursebook
selectors to critically examine the selection process they are currently using,
and to offer those selectors an instrument to use for evaluation should they
consider the checklist presented to be appropriate in their particular teaching
context.
6. such a checklist if used must be tailored to the needs and wants of the learners
who will use the coursebook.
We regard it as necessary to use checklists designed for the local situation because
we agree with Sheldon that textbook criteria are emphatically local (1988:241). A
universally appropriate coursebook could hardly exist, and neither could a universally
appropriate list of coursebook selection criteria.
We propose that arising out of these four assumptions is an urgent need for a
flexible checklist which allows selection criteria to be agreed on beforehand between
concerned teachers and school authorities. Such a checklist would give those
responsible in any school for choosing class coursebooks another way to make the
choice.
The checklist published here includes a scoring table with weightings that can be
varied by users according to any local situation. Our aim has been to write a checklist
which is adaptable enough to use worldwide.
WRITING THE CHECKLIST
The goal of the checklist presented here is not to analyse coursebooks in great
depth from a linguistic or pedagogic viewpoint, but to allow as thorough an evaluation
as possible to be made in the time normally allocated for coursebook assessment by
EFL schools, enabling a comparative and objective evaluation of coursebooks to be
made before they are chosen for use in class.
The checklist was written in England and designed for use worldwide. The checklist
takes elements from the checklists of Matthews (1985:206), D. Williams (1983:255),
R. Williams (1981:159), Cunningsworth (1984:75-79), Breen and Candlin (1987:1328), Sheldon (1988:242-245) and Roberts (1990) and adapts them, with the addition
of new items and a new scoring system. The hope with this flexible checklist is that
EFL schools will choose coursebooks on the basis of the needs and wants of their own
learners.
The aim of this checklist is to make coursebook selection a more coherent,
thoughtful enterprise that it is at present (Sheldon, 1988:245). The checklist is as
short and simple as possible to encourage its use in practice it is much less likely
that a long and complicated checklist would be used. A scoring table is included so a
comparison can more easily be made between coursebooks, as schools normally
evaluate more than one book at a time, and it is easier to compare scores than long
lists of comments. It is also much quicker to assign a score than to write comments
and this too will save time for schools, increasing the likelihood of the checklist being
of real practical use.

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The first item on the checklist is based on the flick test recommended by Matthews
(1985:204). If the book fails this test the evaluator need not continue, though this is
not stated in the checklist as stopping there is a personal decision for the evaluator.
Items 7, 8, and 9 are designed to alert evaluators to the necessity of using culturally
appropriate materials in EFL classrooms worldwide, and to try to exclude
coursebooks which may offend learners.
THE CHECKLIST IN USE IN SOUTH KOREA
The checklist was tried out in South Korea, a country where they appear to be
rarely if ever used. The scores were weighted temporarily for use in South Korea; for
example, South Korean learners normally need more instruction in speaking and
listening than in reading and writing, because of their years of study of the latter in
high school, and a checklist utilized in South Korea must include this as a criterion.
Item 25 on the checklist was given the high weighting factor of 8 for this reason on
this occasion.
The checklist was used in a South Korea university in summer 1994 to
evaluate a certain coursebook which is wide use in South Korea. It was found that
using the checklist to evaluate the book allowed a much more systematic, detailed and
complete appraisal than would have been possible without formal criteria. Using the
checklist ensured that the areas of technical quality, cultural bias, appropriacy, type of
materials, pedagogy, guidance for users, and supplementary materials were all
considered.
It was concluded independently by four teachers in the university that the
coursebook evaluated is relatively unsuitable for use with South Korean EFL classes.
It took only a short time to fill out the checklist and the book averaged only 95 out of
200 possible points. Using the checklist was a valuable activity because it forced a
closer item analysis and much more detailed survey of the book than would have
resulted from a more casual, unguided look through the book; its strengths and
weaknesses were revealed. With the formal guidance given by the checklist, the
evaluators agreed fairly closely on the merits or otherwise of the book. The
weightings also focused attention on the relative importance of various facets of
coursebooks used in South Korea.
EVALUATING THE CHECKLIST
The checklist presented here is new and has not yet been subjected to item
analysis, as it has been used only once. A large number will have to be completed
before this aspect of its validity can be checked. Assessing the concurrent validity of
the checklist is problematic, as there is no evaluation instrument validated for use in
South Korea with which to compare it. We have tried to establish content validity for
the checklist by including all aspects of a coursebook relevant to EFL worldwide; the
effectiveness of this effort will have to be judged by potential users of the checklist,
who will have to compare the coverage given by the 60 items to the needs of their
own teaching situation. The predicative validity of the checklist will become apparent
after coursebooks which score well have been used in the class for some time, when
their relative usefulness can be independently assessed for example by teacher

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evaluation. The checklist is merely offered here for those who wish to use it; we
suggest that selectors will find current methods of choosing coursebooks no better
than this checklist, and possibly worse. The consequences of a poor choice of
coursebook are too serious for an informal or hasty decision to be made.
USING THE CHECKLIST
Instructions are given in the checklist. Before using it, it is essential that
selectors add the weightings appropriate for their local situation to the scoring table (if
no score were weighted, the highest score possible for any coursebook would be 120
the maximum possible when the checklist was tried in South Korea was 200, as
some items were weighted quite heavily).
Objective weighting of the table is a crucial part of the evaluation process as it
is the only way to ensure that the final score for a coursebook corresponds as closely
as possible to the particular needs of the learners who will use the book. Selectors first
have to decide what weightings to use. The objectivity of this process can be
increased by using as many and as experienced evaluators as possible, and by taking
sufficient time to reach a decision; for example, a decision on weightings made in one
day by only one evaluator (a person with less than one year TEFL experience) would
be too subjective. Ideally four or more experienced teachers should take at least two
meetings to reach a decision. Clearly they will have to discuss and decide what
weightings will be appropriate for that particular school. Weightings will influence
which book is chosen, as described above in Korea item 25 on the checklist was
given a weighting factor of 8, ensuring that coursebooks which had plenty of sections
for listening and speaking skills were more likely to be selected. Another
(hypothetical) example is giving item 41 a weighting factor of 10; this would make it
much more likely that coursebooks containing plenty of learner guidance were
chosen.
It is essential that a consensus among as many teachers as possible is reached
on what weightings are used, in order to increase the objectivity of the choice to an
acceptable degree. Subjectivity can never be removed from the process, however, no
matter how coursebooks are chosen; we propose that the checklist presented here is at
least as objective as any other method of choosing.
Checklist items and weightings set by users can be adapted or improved to suit
local situations, either before use or after a period of use. Weightings on scores can be
altered; checklist items can be altered, deleted or added; coursebooks can be evaluated
by other means, and results compared with those of this checklist; and coursebooks
can be piloted in class and the result compared with those predicted by an evaluation
using this checklist.
CONCLUSION
The way many EFL coursebooks are presently chosen is to some extent a
failure of the responsibility that teachers and schools have towards their students. The
new checklist is offered here as an alternative method for evaluation and is intended
to stimulate selectors to critically examine their current selection methods, and to

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offer them an alternative instrument if they should consider it valid for their own
teaching situation.
REFERENCES
Breen, M.P., & Candlin, C.N. (1987). Which materials? A consumers and designers
guide. ELT Document 126. London: British Council, 13-28.
Cunningsworth, A. (1984). Evaluating and selecting EFL teaching materials.
London: Heinemann.
Matthews, A. (1985). Choosing the best available textbook. In Matthews, A., Spratt,
M., and Dangerfield, L. (eds.) At the chalkface. London: Edward Arnold, pp 202
206.
Roberts, J.T. (1990). RESDOC 7. unpublished manuscript, University of Essex,
England.
Sheldon, L.E. (1988). Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials. English Language
Teaching Journal 42/4, pp. 237-246.
Williams, D. (1983). Developing criteria for textbook evaluation. English Language
Teaching Journal 37/3, pp 252-255.
Williams, R. (1981). A procedure for ESP textbook analysis and evaluation on teacher
education courses. English for Specific Purposes Journal 1/2, pp 155-162.

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Appendix
COURSBOOK EVALUATION CHECKLIST
This checklist is designed for evaluating coursebooks used for teaching English as a
Foreign Language to beginning to upper intermediate level adult learners.
Name of evaluator..
Title of coursebook.
Publisher.
Date of publication.
Stated level of learners
Cost of students book.
Cost of teachers book.
Cost of cassette tapes...
Is book now available (Yes/No)......
If No, when will it be available?......
This checklist is designed to produce a score for any coursebook evaluated. Scores are
not explained in absolute terms but can be used for comparison if more than one
coursebook is evaluated.
Rate the criteria below numerically on a scale from 0 to 2 in the blank space before
each one, as follows:2 = Good
1 = Satisfactory
0 = Poor.
The scoring table is given at the end of the checklist.
Section I. General Impression
( ) 1. Flick through the book briefly. The overall appearance is attractive and will be
appealing to learners.
( ) 2. Overall, the book appears to be up-to-date.
( ) 3. The books description of itself appears to match the contents.
Section II. Technical Quality
( ) 4. The book is durable, with a strong cover, and is printed on good quality paper.
( ) 5. The printing and illustrations are of high quality and the book has an attractive
layout, without densely cluttered pages. It has been well edited.
( ) 6. Colour is used but not to a distracting extent.
Section III. Cultural Differences
( ) 7. Any cultural bias in the book is restricted to a degree acceptable to your
learners.
( ) 8. (Teaching in a non-Western culture) Cultures other than Western or American
are also portrayed in the book.
( ) 9. The cultural tone overall is appropriate for use in your setting.

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Section IV. Appropriacy
( ) 10. The materials, language focus and activities are in general appropriate for your
learners.
( ) 11. The coursebook will meet the long and short term goals specific to your
learners.
( ) 12. Learners are not asked to perform roles or activities unacceptable in your
setting.
( ) 13. The activities are adaptable to personal learning and teaching styles.
Section V. Motivation and the Learner
( ) 14. Materials used in the book are authentic and up-to-date to an acceptable
degree.
( ) 15. Materials used have intrinsic interest and will appear relevant and interesting
to learners.
( ) 16. Materials with variety and pace are used.
( ) 17. Personal involvement of learners in encouraged.
( ) 18. The book encourages learners to assume responsibility for heir own learning.
( ) 19. There is a problem-solving and competitive element.
( ) 20. The book exploits the social nature of classrooms.
Section VI. Pedagogic Analysis
( ) 21. Methodologically the book is in line with your schools approach to language
learning.
( ) 22. Methodologically the book is in line with current worldwide theories and
practices of language learning.
( ) 23. Pronunciation: there is sufficient work on recognition and production of
individual sounds.
( ) 24. Pronunciation: there is sufficient work on recognition and production of stress
patterns and intonation.
( ) 25. The balance between listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills
development in the book is appropriate to your particular learners and learning
situation.
( ) 26. Skills integration is given sufficient attention.
( ) 27. The development of discourse and fluency skills is given sufficient attention.
( ) 28. The book contains adequate formal learner achievement tests.
( ) 29. There are activities for communicative interaction and the development of
communicative strategies.
( ) 30. The balance between individual work, pairwork, groupwork, and whole-class
work in the book is appropriate for your particular learning situation.
( ) 31. One goal of the book is enabling learners to use English outside the classroom
situation.
( ) 32. New structures are presented systematically and in a meaningful context.
( ) 33. New items receive sufficient and varied practice.
( ) 34. The meaning of new vocabulary is presented in context.
( ) 35. The grading of new items is not too steep or to gentle for your learners.
( ) 36. In general the activities in the book are neither too difficult nor too easy for
your learners.

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( ) 37. The book is sufficiently challenging to learners.
( ) 38. There are mechanisms for giving regular feedback to learners.
( ) 39. Units are not based around a storyline which may force the teacher to use
every unit in sequence.
( ) 40. There is variety in the makeup of individual units.
( ) 41. Useful guidance is given to learners on correct use of the book.
( ) 42. The style of speech and texts used is appropriate for our learners.
( ) 43. There is provision for the book to be used for self-study by lone learners.
( ) 44. New items are reviewed and recycled throughout the book.
( ) 45. The book matches the syllabus of your school to a sufficient extent.
Section VII. Finding Your Way Through the Students Book
( ) 46. There is an adequate contents page.
( ) 47. There is a comprehensive index.
( ) 48. There is a complete summary of functions.
( ) 49. There is a summary of new and reviewed grammar.
( ) 50. There is a list of topics used in the book.
( ) 51. There is a list of new vocabulary.
( ) 52. If tapes are used, there is a transcript in the students and/ or teachers book.
( ) 53. Sufficient guidance is given for the needs of both experienced and
inexperienced teachers.
Section VIII. Supplementary Materials
( ) 54. A teachers book is available and it gives useful and complete guidance, along
with alternative activities.
( ) 55. A workbook is available and it contains appropriate supplementary activities.
( ) 56. Cassette tapes are of good quality construction.
( ) 57. Sound quality of tapes is good with no hissing, distortion, background noise,
or other problems.
( ) 58. Tapes have a variety of voices and they are native speakers talking at normal
speed.
( ) 59. If the book is part of a series, other books in the series are also suitable for use
in your school.
( ) 60. The coursebook, teachers book, tapes and workbook are not prohibitively
expensive for your students/school.
What materials or activities are missing from the book which should be included?
..
What helpful ways of learning are missing from the book which should be included?
..
Other comments:..
Summation:-.
Evaluators SignatureDate:././..

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SCORING TABLE
There are 60 items on the checklist, with 2 points possible for each item. Items should
be weighted before using the checklist to reflect their relative importance in your
teaching situation.
Scoring procedure:(a) enter the desired weightings in the weight column.
(b) enter the score you gave for each item.
(c) Multiply each score by its weighting factor.
(d) Add up the totals to get the final score.
ITEM SCORE WEIGHT TOTAL
1.
X
=
2.
X
=
3.
X
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4.
X
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5.
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6.
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7.
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X
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11.
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14.
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18.
X
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19.
X
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20.
X
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21.
X
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22.
X
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23.
X
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24.
X
=
25.
X
=
26.
X
=
27.
X
=
28.
X
=
29.
X
=
30.
X
=
Subtotal:

ITEM SCORE WEIGHT TOTAL

31.
X
=
32.
X
=
33.
X
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34.
X
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35.
X
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36.
X
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37.
X
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38.
X
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39.
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40.
X
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41.
X
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42.
X
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43.
X
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44.
X
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45.
X
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46.
X
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47.
X
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48.
X
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49.
X
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50.
X
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51.
X
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52.
X
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53.
X
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54.
X
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55.
X
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56.
X
=
57.
X
=
58.
X
=
59.
X
=
60.
X
=
Subtotal:

TOTAL SCORE FOR THE COURSEBOOK..

Note: The coursebook should be reassessed periodically in the light of the results of
learner achievement tests and learner and teacher judgements.